


Anger and Regret

by Walkinthegarden



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Childhood Sweethearts, Doomed Relationship, F/M, Gen, House Stark, King Robb, Princess Sansa, Red Wedding, Sibling Incest, The King in The North, War Of The Five Kings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-04-28
Packaged: 2018-03-26 03:09:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3834769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Walkinthegarden/pseuds/Walkinthegarden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Robb had always delighted in Sansa</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anger and Regret

Robb had always delighted in Sansa. When she was just a babe and he was a boy chasing his mother's skirt, he would spend long hours sitting at his mother's side or beside Sansa's cradle, smiling down at his baby sister. While most boys his age were smitten with their mothers, it was clear to all he was smitten with his sister.

 

Sansa was five years old the first time she was allowed on a pony. Catelyn was worried sick off to the side of the play court, and Robb was as well. He made such a fuss that Jory finally let him ride with her, so long as he promised to hold her tightly. Robb held her like if he let go she'd fall. She'd held her own well, but had squealed with laughter whenever her brother leaned down to blow hot air on the back of her cold neck.

 

When Sansa turned eight and Robb was nearly eleven, things took a rather dramatic turn. Lady Catelyn started to wonder if it were not time to separate her two eldest. Robb did not delight half as much in Bran or Arya and the thought worried her. Despite her husband's dismissal of her concerns, she couldn't help but see Targayens when she looked at her two sweet children.

 

Robb remained at Sansa's side. When Sansa turned eleven, Catelyn was worried it wouldn't be long before her two precious children did the dreaded Targaryen acts. She tried to separate them, truly she did, but she'd let them do as they pleased for too long. They would not be separated. Robb would sneak away from lessons early and Sansa would do her needlework outside to watch Robb practice on the play court.

 

She thanked all the gods when it was announced the King and his hoard was coming. She watched with satisfaction as Sansa obsessed over the fact that a Prince was coming to Winterfell. This visit was the saving grace she asked for.

 

She was thrilled at the prospect of her daughter being Queen, though she worried for her. She hadn't prepared her daughter for a place like King's Landing.

 

Robb was not half as thrilled as Sansa, and Catelyn's heart went to her son. He became sullen and withdrawn, pulling away from everyone, Sansa included.

 

While she rejoiced in her children's separation, she quickly noticed how lost her two children were without one another. The looks Robb cast Sansa at dinner were heartbreaking, and the looks Sansa returned were no better.

 

It was the day before her daughters and husband were going to head south, that she saw them. She was wandering the castle, waiting eagerly to return to her poor crippled son. The Maester was tending to him and insisted she leave for it.  She had travelled farther into the castle than she'd expected, and happened across a small cellar room.

 

Sansa was sitting on a small stool and Robb was pacing back and forth, tears of frustration on his face.

 

"Can he ever make you happy?"

 

Sansa grimaced at her brother's words. "I am not like you and our siblings Robb, I am not a true Northman. I was always meant to walk among flowers in the sunshine, you've said it yourself. He is my Prince, he will one day be my King, and I will be his Queen."

 

"I don't want to lose you Sansa," her eldest cried, reaching for her eldest daughter.

 

Catelyn watched with wide eyes as her daughter reached in return to Robb, curling her hand around his and bringing it up to cup her cheek. Sansa's eyes fluttered closed as Robb gently brushed his thumb against her cheek.

 

"You will not lose me brother," she whispered, opening her eyes to look up into Robb's. She curled her hand around Robb's, bring his down to rest over her heart. "I will always love you, but you knew as well as I that one day we would be parted. You will be the Lord of Winterfell, and I will be your sister the Queen. I am sure my beloved will allow me to visit. One day we will stand beside one another, you with a dozen young children with our shared eyes and hair, and I with my two golden haired princes and one princess. We will share them, our children. You will toss my daughter about and go riding with my sons while I dance with your sons and sing songs with your daughters. We will be happy you and I."

 

Catelyn did nothing as her daughter of only eleven years leaned up to seal her lips to her eldest son's. What could she do? They will be separated forever in only a day's time. She will give them this.

 

The next day, Catelyn did not watch her children leave with her husband. She stayed at Bran's side.

 

Sansa was wrong, and Catelyn's heart went out to her daughter. Her child left a happy home to marry a monster. It pained her to imagine what that monster must be doing to her, but she did not see that pain, she did see Robb's though. She saw the anger and regret in his eye. He had the pain of a brother who failed to protect his sister, but there was also the pain of a lover. Sansa had assured him, promised him things that would never come to pass.

 

When the Kingslayer fell into their laps, it was the perfect opportunity to regain Sansa. She expected her son to jump at the chance, but he didn't. He'd begun to think like a King. It shattered her heart to see the pain in his eyes. She knew he wanted nothing more than to do as she begged, to regain the sister he loved far more than was proper.

 

When he dismissed her, she turned in time to see him fall to his knees. His crown weighed heavy on his head, his Kinghood crushing him. It would break him, no matter if Sansa lived or died because of it.

 

When the news came that Sansa had married, the sheer anger in Catleyn's eldest son's eyes was indescribable. Her normally hot tempered son curled his fingers tightly around the hilt of his sword, but he did nothing else.

 

That night she followed him into the forest. She expected to see him swinging his sword against the trees like when he learned of his father's death. But he didn't, instead he sat against a tree and pulled a locket out from under his tunic. She recognized it instantly, as the one her husband had made for Sansa on her first nameday. The carved winter roses, polished with blue dye, gleamed in the moonlight.

 

She wondered when Sansa gave it to him. Had it been when her daughter left for the capital? Had she kissed Robb's cheek and pressed the necklace into his hand while others said their goodbyes? Had she whispered into his ear that they would be together again one day?

 

Her son, her poor son, looked so like a small boy in that moment. As his fingers curled around the locket and the tears cascaded down his face, she realized, Robb had loved his sister.

 

No mother wishes her child to be unhappy. No mother wishes her children to love one another like man and wife either. So she does not know how to feel anymore. Watching her son's mental health deteriorate before her eyes makes her weep in the night, but she cannot help but feel anxious over the potential return of her eldest daughter. Robb cannot love his sister as one would a lover, not as a Lord but especially not as a King. He needs heirs.

 

She promises him to a Frey girl, not because he needs the bridge (though he does) but because he needs a wife that is not his sister.

 

When he appears with a bride at his side, Catelyn cannot help the relief that floods her heart. The Freys will have to be dealt with, but now her son has a pretty bride to keep him from his sister.

 

If only he loved her. It soon becomes painfully obvious that her son does not love this pretty girl he's wed. While they appear very much in love, he does not whisk her away when he thinks no one is looking, he does not value her opinion, and he doesn't look at her the way he looked at Sansa. Perhaps the most damning evidence, is the locker still tucked away under his tunic. She has seen him play with the chain when making important decisions, as if itching for Sansa to be at his side.

 

Jeyne must notice her husband's lack of love. While she stands dutifully by Robb's side, Catleyn can see the unsure look in her eyes, the look of loss. She doesn't know what's she's doing wrong, and she is just a fragile southern girl. Catleyn cannot help but think he will toss Jeyne aside completely once he is reunited with Sansa.

 

Jeyne doesn't argue when she is told she cannot go to the wedding of Edmure and Roslin. She accepts the decision and leaves before anyone can say much else. She addresses Robb as "Your Grace" before leaving, no warmth to her voice like their once was. Catelyn feels sorry for the girl who can never hope to understand why her husband does not love her.

 

It takes Catleyn a moment to recognize the song. She heard it as a child, when Lannister men stayed at Riverrun on their journey to an unmemorable place.

 

_"And who are you?_

_The proud Lord said,_

_that I must bow so low?"_

 

Her mind fills in the missing words, and her heart sinks. There is a glint to Bolton's eyes and she knows they've been betrayed.

 

The arrows sore through the air, piercing her son's body. She screams for him, begs for his life with a knife to Frey's wife's throat. She watches helplessly as Bolton thrusts a knife into her last son's stomach. There is nothing she can do as Robb stumbles backward, falling to the floor. As the blood pools around him, she watches his bloody fingers reach up and pull the locket from his tunic. He grasps it tightly and as a knife swipes across her throat, she hears him whisper:

 

"I love you Sansa."


End file.
